Meetings
Recent, saved for reference and to give flavor of events:
Members-only meeting Tuesday June 3, "Writing for the Web"
3-member panel: Hal Higdon, Barbara Payne, Mira Temkin
Hackney's on Lake, 1514 E. Lake Ave, Glenview
Cocktails: 6 p.m., Dinner 6:30, Discussion: 7 p.m.
Members: Bring guests if you wish. Members $16, Guests $20
RSVP to Jodie Jacobs at jodie_jacobs@sbcglobal.net by May 30.
Hal Higdon has written for Runner's World magazine longer than any other human being, dating back to its second issue in 1966. Among his 34 books is the best-selling Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. His children's book, The Horse That Played Center Field, was made an animated feature by ABC-TV. He discusses Web-based commercial success, as demonstrated at sites where he sells his training programs and his books. Hal's homework is here. (Scroll down)
Barbara Payne is managing principal of ReallyGoodFreelanceWriter.com. She discusses blogging for profit, tells how to make blogging part of your marketing. She wrote Create the Business Breakthrough You Want: Secrets and Strategies from the World’s Greatest Mentors
Mira Temkin has created web sites for Hotel Baker, Mayflower Tours, JCPenney Gift Cards, Marketing Innovators, Bwitchers, Miller Beer Stuff, Collectibles Today and other clients. She talks designing a site and writing for it and other Internet spaces.
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When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 6
Where: Ada Kahn's house, 2562 Wellington Court, Evanston,
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The February meeting of the Midwest Writers Association is open to the public to hear Helen Gallagher’s presentation, “Your book is being published: Now what?”
Gallagher, a freelance writer, technology expert and author of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way, will discuss ways to market a book through bookstores and other retail outlets, book clubs, online resources, and other strategies.
February 6, 7:00 p.m., at the Wilmette Public Library Auditorium, 1242 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette, IL. Admission is $5.00. If planning to attend, please inform Jim O’Connor, 847-615-5462, jimo@oconnorpr.com.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007: Kelly James-Enger discussing her book, Six-Figure Free-lancing (Random House) and how magazine and book writers can squeeze extra sales out of assignment pieces for fun and profit. It's at Hackneys Restaurant in Glenview, Illinois, 6-9 p.m. Open to the public.
“Is it possible to give up your nine-to-five job and make more money as a full-time freelancer?" asks an Amazon.com reviewer. "Absolutely. Six-Figure Freelancing shows writers how to make the most of the ballooning freelance industry by adopting a business-like approach to their craft. It offers insightful, first-hand advice to help maximize time and profit."
The book:
• Includes worksheets and templates to assess and establish the best possible business strategy
• Has advice on time management and repurposing material for multiple markets, as well as how to gain a competitive edge in a growing market
Kelly James-Enger left her profession as a lawyer for a lucrative career as a freelance writer. She is also a public speaker and journalist. Her column, "The Bottom Line" appears regularly in The Writer magazine.
-- Hackneys is at 1514 East Lake Avenue, Glenview -- 1/2 block east of Waukegan Rd. on the north side of Lake.
Price: (including dinner) Members: $16 Non-members: $21
The Meeting will be held upstairs in the Wassail Room
Cash bar. Reservations required; RSVP by May 10, Julie Kramer, jkramer229@aol.com
January 24, 2007 Helen Gallagher will project blog computer screens and discuss the whys and hows of tagging onto this phenomenon and even making a few bucks in the process.
Come, mingle, and network with other successful professional writers. Swap war stories and take home lots of new information of a BLOGGY nature.
Coffee, tea and snacks will be available. Free to MWA members, $5 for others.
Wilmette Public Library 1242 Wilmette Ave, Wilmette, IL, (Near Lake St. and Green Bay Rd.)
(847) 256-5025
October 19, 2006: Featured speaker was John Lavine, Dean of the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism=====================
Today professional writers face new challenges in digital communications. They must learn to tell stories in a variety of media. That's the easy part.
The hard part is marketing and building an audience for our work. Lavine will discuss employing journalism and marketing to meet the needs of today's multitasking, media-savvy audience.
He is currently leading a sweeping transformation at Medill. He is also a professor of media management and strategy in Medill and in the Kellogg School of Management.
Prior to becoming dean, he was founding director of Northwestern's Media Management Center. He regularly educates senior executives in leading print, broadcast, and digital media companies in the U.S. and abroad.
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Adapted from Inside Medill News, May 2, 2006:
Journalism and integrated marketing communications have different goals, marketing communications to persuade -- facilitate a sale by having consumers spend their time with one's stories and messages -- journalism to inform. What they share is a commitment to relevance and meaning.
There is no journalism without an audience. The journalist must reach an audience.
If we want an informed public and freedom of speech and press, integrated marketing communications is essential.
Today's consumers know that journalism's role is to inform, and marketing's is to persuade. They expect each to play its role and not interfere with the other.
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June 6, The Tribune's Howard Reich, Critic & Investigator
Before:
Have you ever plunked down $150 for two tickets to a really crappy play and wanted to warn everyone you know not to make the same mistake? Or have you discovered an absolute jewel of a movie, book or performance and wanted the world to hear about it? Then you’ve wanted to write criticism.
Howard Reich, arts and jazz critic and investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune has crafted a career of discovery. His book, written with Willliam Gaines, Jelly’s Blues, about jazz great Jelly Roll Morton, was called "Powerful...A deeply moving story" by Downbeat Magazine.
Howard will speak on criticism as a craft and about investigations he's made that have led to front page stories.
A book he has written, Prisoner of Her Past, about his mother's flight from the Nazis when a child on her own, will be released the first week of June.
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Longer ago:
April 26, '06 Members Meeting
We discussed copyrights, fair use and plagiarism with our resident expert, lawyer Rich Schell J.D. Let other writers be hauled off to the graybar hotel -- not MWA members.
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Members-Only Meeting June 15: NETWORKING YOUR WAY INTO NEW MARKETS
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"Writing for the Educational Market"
April 20, 2005
Learn how you can tap into the rewarding educational market -- a market that is hungry for good freelance writers and editors.
Meet:
The president of a publishing network: Linda Wolf
The editorial director of a development house: Seva Johnson
An experienced freelancer who loves the field: Cynthia Clampitt
Today's educational publishers rarely develop products in-house. Instead, they send writing assignments to development houses, publishing networks, and individual freelancers. The development houses and publishing networks rely on their lists of writing and editorial freelancers to get large projects done on increasingly tight schedules. Learn what it takes to get into educational publishing, what skills you need and the types of projects that you might encounter. Find out what it takes to touch the future.
Linda Wolf is the President of Network Publishing Partners, Inc., a company that provides editorial services, including writing, copyediting, and proofreading, of ancillary student and teacher materials to the grade K-6 educational textbook industry. Network has worked for more than 16 years exclusively with professional freelancers. Network also does some design and development work, though the company's primary business is editorial services. Network looks for writers who are professional, experienced, and dedicated to excellence, but they do pull in writers who are new to elementary publishing from time to time and pair them up with a more experienced mentor on their writing teams.
Seva Johnson is the Editorial Director of Anthology, Inc., an educational-focused, full-service development house in the northwest suburbs. Seva, who founded Anthology's editorial services department in 2003, served for ten years as the director of publishing and marketing for the American Bar Association (ABA) Division for Public Education and, before that, for thirteen years as a senior editor, educational publications manager, and finally editorial director of World Book's largest division, Educational Products. She is member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Association of Educational Publishers. She has created and produced products for all major subject areas, developing several award-winning products in the process. Anthology's busy schedule means they have an ongoing need for freelance writers and editors, as well as other publishing professionals.
Cynthia Clampitt is a writer, editor, and photographer who has worked for more than 20 years in educational publishing, both on staff and as a freelancer. She has worked for nearly every major educational publisher, including Scott Foresman, Glencoe/McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall, Holt, McDougal Littell, Harcourt Brace, HarperCollins, Riverside, and Southwestern Educational Publishing. She has worked at grade levels ranging from fifth grade through college, and on virtually every kind of educational product, including student texts, teacher's guides, leveled readers, state-specific books, ancillaries, and on-line materials, focusing primarily on social studies, history, geography, and literature.
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"Taking the Self-Publishing Route"
February 24, 2005
Do you have a book ready to publish? What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing vs. a traditional royalty publisher? Come and learn what happens on both sides of the editor's desk. Find out:
Should you sell you book to a royalty publisher or self-publish?
Why does it take so long for a book to be published?
If you won't get rich writing books (and that's not likely), why do it?
What is the four-letter word that strikes fear in the hearts of writers?
Panel discussion will feature:
Jim Kepler is a writer turned publisher. The author or co-author of more than a half dozen books published by Contemporary, Barnes & Noble, Laidlaw, and others, he now owns Adams Press. Founded in 1942, Adams Press produces books for authors who choose to self-publish. Jim's career as a writer began more than three decades ago while he was still working for Harper & Row, Publishers. He has written magazine articles, grant proposals, thousands of corporate letters, and even greeting cards.
Richard E. Schell is an attorney, author and agricultural entrepreneur. He is the author of Quick Cash: A Guide to Raising Money During Life'sPlanned and Unplanned Changes. Quick Cash, published by Sourcebooks in Naperville (March, 2004). He is co-author of U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Q & A by Debbie M. Schell, Richard E. Schell and Kurt A. Wagner. He writes and speaks frequently on topics related to intellectual property, entrepreneurship and legal issues involved in publishing. He serves as Of Counsel to the Law Offices of Kurt A. Wagner, an international law firm with offices in Illinois and Austria specializing in immigration, intellectual property, and international business transactions.
Caryn Lazar Amster for the past 18 years has been CEO of CMA Marketing Group, Inc., and its divisions, CMA Publishing and Custom Marketing Associates. She has been a syndicated newspaper columnist/feature writer and is a professional speaker, trainer, and has published many articles on marketing and business. Caryn chose to self-publish her book The Pied Piper of South Shore: Toys and Tragedy in Chicago, using the services of BookMasters. What led her to self-publish? What was her experience? Caryn's book, a true crime Chicago memoir set in the `50s and `60s, won the USA Book News "Best Books in 2004" award in the true crime category.
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Wondering How to Write a Winning Book Proposal?
[Was] January 27 Member-Only Meeting
MWA’s own Leslie Levine will kick off 2005 by sharing the book proposal writing expertise that has earned her three book contracts (and three successful books) at a post-holiday member-only meeting and celebration at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, January 27 at Annie Moldafsky’s home, 1179 Hohlfelder, Glencoe. This will be a great opportunity for all: Leslie’s presentation, “Writing Book Proposals that Sell,” a party, and a chance to help those less fortunate.
Those of you who have some winning book proposals of your own are invited to bring them along to share after Leslie speaks. It’s all about helping each other.
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November, 2004
Writing for the Religious Market Addressed
at November Meeting
by Sue Masaracchia-Roberts
Program Chair Ada Kahn moderated a panel of editors and publishers from the religious market at the November 18 open meeting at Hackney’s on Lake in Glenview, IL.
Among those sharing their insights were Sharon Dorr, publications manager for Quest Books, a division of the Theosophical Publishing Company; Vicki Smith, senior acquisitions manager for Publications International; Pauline Yearwood, editor from Chicago Jewish News; Dave Dewitt from Moody Publishing of Chicago; and Mark Galli from Christianity Today.
Sharon Dorr
The Theosophical Society, headquartered in Wheaton, IL, was founded in 1875 by a quixotic Russian noblewoman woman who sat at the feet of the masters of the world’s religions. She was credited with bringing the wisdom of the East to the West and with being the mother of the New Age. The organization she founded has now become international and has produced Quest Books (www.questbooks.net).
The mission statement of the Theosophical Society includes the mandate to be open-minded in one’s inquiry into religion, science and the arts. It keeps the classics in print and publishes books harmonious with the principles of the Society. Quest publishes only adult nonfiction, but includes alternative health and books that interface quantum physics with psychology and social issues. More than 300 titles are in print under their label. Submissions are vigorously reviewed by a team of staff and board members; guidelines for submission are available on their website.
Authors who are recognized for their high standards and the quality of their content and style, with well-established platforms, such as professors or workshop leaders, are normally accepted by Quest. These authors pay for their own developmental editing and indexing and any tours to promote their books.
“A high level of participation is expected by our writers,” said Dorr. “We will set up book signings and get the media there, but we do not pay for tour expenses like lodging and transportation.”
Hot genres, according to Dorr, are dream interpretation, ancient mysteries, Kabbalah, spiritual astrology, esoteric Christianity and lost gospels, the interface of science and spirituality and Tibetan Buddhism.
Writers for The Theosophical Society can expect to make 10 percent of the net – or five percent of list price.
“Advances have gone down so now we give either no advances or no more than $2,000 to $3,000, with one-third provided on contract signing, one-third upon the approval of the edited manuscript and one-third on publication,” she said.
Dorr added that workshop and conference attendance is important in building a network and built-in audience: “It is important that authors have a network, have their own mailing lists and following.”
Vicki Smith
Publications International (www.pubint.com) is a part of Promotional Publishing Company in Lincolnwood, IL, and was founded in 1967. Some of its products include children’s cookbooks, legacy, and general interest devotional and coffee table books.
Acceptance of these books is market driven.
According to senior acquisitions manager Vicki Smith, “a client comes in to us and we sell the book before we produce it, or we pitch an idea and we seek writers. It is all work for hire and we retain all copyrights. Our fees are modest -- $ .15 to $ .20/word. The base price is $3,000. We work with both new writers and experts but have quick deadlines.”
Inspirational and religious subjects comprise about 25 percent of their titles. Authors include Randy Peterson and Gary Burge (from Wheaton College). They don’t review proposals, just complete manuscripts.
Pauline Yearwood
Editor Pauline Yearwood joined Chicago Jewish News (www.chijewishnews.com) less than three years after Joseph Aaron founded the independent, not-for-profit publication.
“The Jewish community in Chicago is diverse – from secular to Orthodox. This was designed to be a paper for all aspects of Judaism,” she explained. “We range from 28 pages in the summer to 64 pages around the [Jewish] holidays but do not take stands and do not provide editorials. We just offer a potpourri of articles.”
Yearwood looks for “something different,” rather than a slant or an angle. The publication likes personals pieces like new vs. old traditions, interfaith traditions and community news. It does use opinion pieces and annually publishes an auxiliary publication called “The Guide to Jewish Chicago,” including “the who, whats and wheres of Jewish Chicago, with listings of organizations, agencies, and other Jewish sources.
Queries should be pitched via e-mail. Payment depends on length and the work involved, ranging between $50 and $200, paid on publication. “We may keep a manuscript up to a couple of months,” added Yearwood, who suggested those interested check out the website: www.chijewishnews.com. “The archives go back several years.”
Dave Dewitt
Moody Publishing (www.moodypublishers.org) is part of the 120 year-old Moody Bible Institute. In an industry that annually offers 175,000 new books, Dave Dewitt suggests there is too much product and too little shelf space.
“We assume the author has a message, has something to say and this is a platform,” DeWitt said. “Christian books are now in secular book stores as well as in Christian book stores and offered by book clubs. Chances are, with this platform, we may do a book from ideas we have in our files with the right author at the right time. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. Be sure to ask yourself What’s hot? What’s new? What’s on sale?”
If the books do not have a proven success level, the bookstores will not purchase them. Publishers have taken over the need to create demand for books and their authors must have a following or create a demand for their books on their own. To create visibility and demand is not inexpensive. It frequently takes at least $500,000 to begin to accomplish this.
He urged writers to look at labels in bookstores and to note the store’s organization and composition. Many bookstores these days contain less than 20 percent books; Christian bookstores especially showcase more cards, music, apparel, gift and other items. People today have less leisure and frequently examine alternate ways to fill their time. Only one of those ways is by reading.
Dewitt suggests taking a look at www.christianwritersguild.com.
Moody accepts no unsolicited manuscripts, but is an excellent resource for mentoring aspiring writers, according to Dewitt. He suggests that writers “be persistent and persevere. You’ll hear a lot of ‘nos’ and receive a lot of rejections before hitting the right time and the right place with the right book/proposal. That’s how it was with our current most popular book, The Five Languages of Love. It has become so popular, we are expanding that line.”
Moody’s provides a platform, recognition for names regionally and nationally, along with a radio presence and connections with organizations that hold conferences and seminars. He further suggests going on tour with one’s book to create demand, however to strike a balance between sellers and readers. Split one’s promotional efforts. For example, if a book is discussed in Publishers Weekly, it will sell more in stores and if it’s on Jane Pauley it will obtain more lay attention.
Mark Galli
Evangelist Billy Graham founded Christianity Today Magazine (www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/) as a forum for theological and cultural commentary. Managing Editor Mark Galli noted that it is more middle of the road, leaning to the left, rather than to the right, such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
The average reader is a 53-year-old male who is involved in his church, reads 13 to 15 books a year and owns about 20 CDs. There is hardly a topic that is off limits. In fact, a recent edition featured Ned Flanders from the popular television cartoon, The Simpsons, and article about Oprah Winfrey showing how her messages line up with that of this Evangelical viewpoint. Other recent articles explored, “When does personhood begin and why does it matter?” a feature on Chicago pastor James Meeks, and a story on the revival of religion in New York City based on the observations of a writer from Colombia.
As his is an issues-driven publication, Galli urges those interested to check out several back issues – either in the library or online, adding that readers can now access two years of back issues at no fee, but that soon that will be limited to six months.
“Know what the vision of our world is,” said Galli, “the types and lengths of our articles and what articles have been done. Out of 100 manuscript queries received, it is easy to reject 90. It is normally clear from the first two or three sentences that [the person making the submission] doesn’t read the magazine.”
In fact, for any magazine, Galli urges would-be contributors to “spend a lot of time understanding the target reader and what’s been written. Read at least three issues.”
He prefers being queried, but added, “If you send a manuscript, we’ll read the first paragraph or two. If I’m not hooked, it’s gone. You’ll get a ‘no’ within a week or two; if it’s a ‘yes,’ you’ll hear from me within two to three weeks.” He especially likes to publish and needs more humor pieces.
The reason for that timing, he explained, is that lot of ideas are discussed in editorial meetings. The pay ranges from $ .25 to $ .35/word, depending on the experience of the writer and their online presence: “We publish 930 editorial pages a year. Some articles are rejected due to a lack of room. Although online pays less, it does offer a secondary chance for publication.”
Referring to the recent national election and relating it to the purpose of his Divine Life Books, Galli added, “I am stunned by commentaries by people like Gary Wills, how they are shocked by what they see in the United States. There has been a shift taking place in our culture for the past 10 to 15 years. Our culture has been experimenting with living in a secular world for the past 30 to 40 years. The difference between religions is how they are applied to social issues. Think about social issues! There are 11 or more different Christian magazines alone.”
He added that being in his magazine as a writer is a good idea as he can recommend writers to book publishers, providing them with fresh voices. Weblogs are also a great way to gain audience and are a new avenue to create a voice and platform.